Compare 5k time with 5000M. (Read 693 times)

If a runner can do a road 5k in say 20 minutes, how much faster would one expect his0her 5000M time to be?

Assumptions: Road 5k is on a basically flat paved road, loop course.

Track is modern all weather rubber surface.

Runner fitness and weather conditions are similar.

I would be happy with either guesstimates or anecdotes, or simply a discussion of the factors involved. Thanks.

PBs since age 60: 5k- 24:36, 10k - 47:17. Half Marathon- 1:42:41.

10 miles (unofficial) 1:16:44.

Venomized

Drink up moho's!!

posted: 11/24/2012 at 9:56 AM

Can't speak for a 5000m on a 400m track but I know I can run about a minute per mile faster on an indoor 200m track and still feel somewhat easy of a run.

I suspect the 5000m will be slightly faster but we are talking % faster and not absolute time faster. If you have a 30 min road 5K and you run 10% faster then that is 3 minutes faster. But if you have a 24 min road 5K then 10% faster is a 21:36 then that is 2:24 faster.

Also take into account that typically the faster a runner is then the better he/she will execute their race strategy and the speed increase is likely going to be less.

For me a dirt track is a whole lot slower, asphalt track about 15 sec/mile faster, don't have much experience on real rubberized tracks but a few times I ran them, was about the same as an asphalt track, these were not races but mile-3K time trials with club members. Not wanting to be lapped may have something to do with why track is faster for me.

I think that is for people that are comfortable racing on the track. Most adult rec runners (hobbyjoggers?) are NOT comfortable on the track. It's difficult to run 12.5 mind-numbingly repetitious laps unless you have done it quite a bit before. I am slower on the track than on the road

spinach

posted: 11/24/2012 at 10:15 PMmodified: 11/24/2012 at 10:16 PM

I plugged in my recent time in a road 5k into a WAVA calculator http://www.howardgrubb.co.uk/athletics/wmalookup06.html got my WAVA score of 82.25 and then sent that back to find the time for a 5000 meter that would get the same score. The 5000 was 25 seconds faster 18:16 for the 5000 compared to the 18:41 I ran for the road 5k. You could play around with this calculator to get an estimate at various speeds.

On average...with runners who are used to doing both. Track racing, particularly if it goes beyond a mile...or maybe 10 laps???..., it'll take different types of discipline. Also, wearing spike shoes would help you run faster BUT, if you're not used to it or trained to run in them, it may even hurt you. In fact, I'd say, if someone who can run 20-minutes for 5k on the road, unless he/she prepare adequately, I'd say would drop out after 2 miles with sore calves if he/she tries to run at 20-minutes 5k pace. Running on synthetic track with spike shoes would provide you physical factors to run faster. But, for one, it's boring and, unless you are a focus-type, surrounding of the road, even some undulation of the road, may give you the advantage to run better (if not "faster", "better"). Also, these physical factors to make you run faster may also backfire and hurt you just as sudden use of PED can hurt your body--it basically allows your body to run faster/harder than you are capable of. A typical problem of people who use PED (and keep your eyes on this next time you hear some athletes getting a problem after winning some major competition out of blue) is Achilles problem because particularly tendons and ligaments just can't take it.

Venomized

Drink up moho's!!

posted: 11/24/2012 at 11:10 PMmodified: 11/24/2012 at 11:34 PM

As to the track being mind numbing monotony. In the winter I tend to run track more than I care to because my area is terrible about clearing the roads after it snows. My subdivision is not high on the snow clearing chain so the roads tend to get packed down from traffic by the time the plows are out. And since I run at night on week days I tend to be dodging a lot of ice.

That being said I'd run the 200m track a couple days a week. Personal distance records for me are 12 miles on the 200m track (96 laps) and 18 miles at the YMCA on their 15 lap/mile track (270 laps). You have to shut your mind off and use a manual counter to keep track of the laps. Changing directions every few miles is needed as well.

Most people say around 15-20 seconds difference is normal for a given individual.

Tracks are designed to be fast for running on, and are completely flat. It's hard to get a road race where the course is completely flat, and the surface is not specifically designed for running on. You can wear spikes on a track, but not on the road.

For those that race regularly on the track, that 20-25 second spread sounds about right. Those are hard to find on a regular basis for me and when I do the field is usually spread so there is little head-to-head competition. It's more like runners of different abilities all running solo time trials at the same time. That doesn't make for fast times. Since some of the tracks I do race on don't allow spikes of any kind, I wear racing flats, so my time comparisons aren't going to be quite in line. With the factors I encounter mine are closer to comparable with maybe a slight edge to track times of about 10 seconds max.

Ive just started doing my 1000 intervals on a proper track. Ive done 2 lots now and it is a bit different for sure. I think pacing takes a bit to get used to. I think Im getting old as I forget how many laps Ive done too haha.

But no complaints about the perfect surface it has to be fast once you get your pacing sorted out.